Accounting for baryons in cosmological constraints from cosmic shear
Not Available
Zentner, Andrew R.↗
Engineering topics
Dodelson, Scott
Publications and source records attributed to Dodelson, Scott.
THE SDSS CO-ADD: COSMIC SHEAR MEASUREMENT
Stripe 82 in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey was observed multiple times, allowing deeper images to be constructed by co-adding the data. Here, we analyze the ellipticities of background galaxies in this 275 deg{sup 2} region, searching for evidence of distortions due to cosmic shear. We do so using measurements of both the shear-shear correlation function and power spectrum, with the latter determined using both ''quadratic'' and ''pseudo'' estimation techniques. We show how we verified these methods using mock catalogs. We also describe our methods for modeling and correcting for the effects of the point-spread function (PSF) in our shape measurements, and we also describe our prescription for estimating photometric redshifts (photo-z's) for our galaxy sample. In particular, we assess the impact of potential systematic effects due to the PSF and to photo-z's, and show that these are under control in our analysis. We find consistent correlation function and power spectrum results, where the E-mode cosmic shear signal is detected in both real and Fourier space with >5{sigma} significance on degree scales, while the B-mode is consistent with zero as expected. The amplitude of the signal constrains the combination of the matter density {Omega}{sub m} and fluctuation amplitude {sigma}{sub 8} to be {Omega}{sup 0.7}{sub m}{sigma}{sub 8} = 0.252{sup +0.032}{sub -{sub 0.052}}.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
GALACTOSEISMOLOGY: DISCOVERY OF VERTICAL WAVES IN THE GALACTIC DISK
We present evidence for a Galactic North-South asymmetry in the number density and bulk velocity of solar neighborhood stars. The number density profile, which is derived from main-sequence stars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, shows a (North-South)/(North+South) deficit at |z| {approx_equal} 400 pc and an excess at |z| {approx} 800 pc. The bulk velocity profile, which is derived from the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration, shows a gradual trend across the Galactic midplane as well as smaller-scale features. We speculate that the North-South asymmetry, which has the appearance of a wavelike perturbation, is intrinsic to the disk. We explore the physics of this phenomenon through an analysis of the linearized Boltzmann and Poisson equations and through one-dimensional simulations. The perturbation may be excited by the passage of a satellite galaxy or dark matter subhalo through the Galactic disk, in which case we are witnessing a recent disk-heating event.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY CO-ADD: CROSS-CORRELATION WEAK LENSING AND TOMOGRAPHY OF GALAXY CLUSTERS
The shapes of distant galaxies are sheared by intervening galaxy clusters. We examine this effect in Stripe 82, a 275 deg{sup 2} region observed multiple times in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and co-added to achieve greater depth. We obtain a mass-richness calibration that is similar to other SDSS analyses, demonstrating that the co-addition process did not adversely affect the lensing signal. We also propose a new parameterization of the effect of tomography on the cluster lensing signal which does not require binning in redshift, and we show that using this parameterization we can detect tomography for stacked clusters at varying redshifts. Finally, due to the sensitivity of the tomographic detection to accurately marginalize over the effect of the cluster mass, we show that tomography at low redshift (where dependence on exact cosmological models is weak) can be used to constrain mass profiles in clusters.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DARK ENERGY FROM THE LOG-TRANSFORMED CONVERGENCE FIELD
A logarithmic transform of the convergence field improves 'the information content', i.e., the overall precision associated with the measurement of the amplitude of the convergence power spectrum, by improving the covariance matrix properties. The translation of this improvement in the information content to that in cosmological parameters, such as those associated with dark energy, requires knowing the sensitivity of the log-transformed field to those cosmological parameters. In this paper, we use N-body simulations with ray tracing to generate convergence fields at multiple source redshifts as a function of cosmology. The gain in information associated with the log-transformed field does lead to tighter constraints on dark energy parameters, but only if shape noise is neglected. The presence of shape noise quickly diminishes the advantage of the log-mapping, more quickly than we would expect based on the information content. With or without shape noise, using a larger pixel size allows for a more efficient log-transformation.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY CO-ADD: A GALAXY PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFT CATALOG
We present and describe a catalog of galaxy photometric redshifts (photo-z) for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Co-add Data. We use the artificial neural network (ANN) technique to calculate the photo-z and the nearest neighbor error method to estimate photo-z errors for {approx}13 million objects classified as galaxies in the co-add with r < 24.5. The photo-z and photo-z error estimators are trained and validated on a sample of {approx}83,000 galaxies that have SDSS photometry and spectroscopic redshifts measured by the SDSS Data Release 7 (DR7), the Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology Field Galaxy Survey, the Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe Data Release 3, the VIsible imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph-Very Large Telescope Deep Survey, and the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey. For the best ANN methods we have tried, we find that 68% of the galaxies in the validation set have a photo-z error smaller than {sigma}{sub 68} = 0.031. After presenting our results and quality tests, we provide a short guide for users accessing the public data.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
The Real Problem with MOND
Gravitational potentials in the cosmos are deeper than expected from observed visible objects, a phenomenon usually attributed to dark matter, presumably in the form of a new fundamental particle. Until such a particle is observed, the jury remains out on dark matter, and modified gravity models must be considered. The class of models reducing to modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) in the weak field limit does an excellent job fitting the rotation curves of galaxies, predicting the relation between baryonic mass and velocity in gas-dominated galaxies, and explaining the properties of the local group. Several of the initial challenges facing MOND have been overcome, while others remain. Here we point out the most severe challenge facing MOND.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
The SDSS Coadd: A Galaxy Photometric Redshift Catalog
We present and describe a catalog of galaxy photometric redshifts (photo-z's) for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Coadd Data. We use the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technique to calculate photo-z's and the Nearest Neighbor Error (NNE) method to estimate photo-z errors for {approx} 13 million objects classified as galaxies in the coadd with r < 24.5. The photo-z and photo-z error estimators are trained and validated on a sample of {approx} 89, 000 galaxies that have SDSS photometry and spectroscopic redshifts measured by the SDSS Data Release 7 (DR7), the Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology Field Galaxy Survey (CNOC2), the Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe Data Release 3(DEEP2 DR3), the SDSS-III's Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), the Visible imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph - Very Large Telescope Deep Survey (VVDS) and the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey. For the best ANN methods we have tried, we find that 68% of the galaxies in the validation set have a photo-z error smaller than {sigma}{sub 68} = 0.036. After presenting our results and quality tests, we provide a short guide for users accessing the public data.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
The SDSS Coadd: Cosmic Shear Measurement
Stripe 82 in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey was observed multiple times, allowing deeper images to be constructed by coadding the data. Here we analyze the ellipticities of background galaxies in this 275 square degree region, searching for evidence of distortions due to cosmic shear. The E-mode is detected in both real and Fourier space with > 5-{sigma} significance on degree scales, while the B-mode is consistent with zero as expected. The amplitude of the signal constrains the combination of the matter density {Omega}{sub m} and fluctuation amplitude {sigma}{sub 8} to be {Omega}{sub m}{sup 0.7} {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.276{sub -0.050}{sup +0.036}.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
Robust approach to constraining dark matter properties with gamma-ray data
Not Available
Baxter, Eric J.↗
RE-CAPTURING COSMIC INFORMATION
Gravitational lensing of distant galaxies can be exploited to infer the convergence field as a function of angular position on the sky. The statistics of this field, much like that of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), can be studied to extract information about fundamental parameters in cosmology, most notably the dark energy in the universe. Unlike the CMB, the distribution of matter in the universe which determines the convergence field is highly non-Gaussian, reflecting the nonlinear processes that accompanied structure formation. Much of the cosmic information contained in the initial field is therefore unavailable to the standard power spectrum measurements. Here we propose a method for re-capturing cosmic information by using the power spectrum of a simple function of the observed (nonlinear) convergence field. We adapt the approach of Neyrinck et al. to lensing by using a modified logarithmic transform of the convergence field. The Fourier transform of the log-transformed field has modes that are nearly uncorrelated, which allows for additional cosmological information to be extracted from small-scale modes.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Karhunen-Loeve Estimation of the Power Spectrum Parameters from the Angular Distribution of Galaxies in Early Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data
We present measurements of parameters of the three-dimensional power spectrum of galaxy clustering from 222 square degrees of early imaging data in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The projected galaxy distribution on the sky is expanded over a set of Karhunen-Loeve (KL) eigenfunctions, which optimize the signal-to-noise ratio in our analysis. A maximum likelihood analysis is used to estimate parameters that set the shape and amplitude of the three-dimensional power spectrum of galaxies in the SDSS magnitude-limited sample with r* less than 21. Our best estimates are gamma = 0.188 +/- 0.04 and sigma(sub 8L) = 0.915 +/- 0.06 (statistical errors only), for a flat universe with a cosmological constant. We demonstrate that our measurements contain signal from scales at or beyond the peak of the three-dimensional power spectrum. We discuss how the results scale with systematic uncertainties, like the radial selection function. We find that the central values satisfy the analytically estimated scaling relation. We have also explored the effects of evolutionary corrections, various truncations of the KL basis, seeing, sample size, and limiting magnitude. We find that the impact of most of these uncertainties stay within the 2 sigma uncertainties of our fiducial result.
Szalay, Alexander S.↗
Noise correlations in cosmic microwave background experiments
Many analysis of microwave background experiments neglect the correlation of noise in different frequency of polarization channels. We show that these correlations, should they be present, can lead to serve misinterpretation of an experiment. In particular, correlated noise arising from either electronics or atmosphere may mimic a cosmic signal. We quantify how the likelihood function for a given experiment varies with noise correlation, using both simple analytic models and actual data. For a typical microwave background anisotropy experiment, noise correlations at the level of 1% of the overall noise can seriously reduce the significance of a given detection.
Dodelson, Scott↗